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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Air strikes kill 15 militants in North Waziristan
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Reinforcement Troops Drive Back Taliban from Shindand, Herat
[Tolo News] Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
provincial police chief Abdul Majid Rozi said Thursday afternoon that following a large-scale military offensive troops were able to push back Taliban bandidos holy warriors that had tried to overrun military posts in the Shindand region of Herat.

Insurgents reportedly attacked the military posts early Thursday morning but were driven out once reinforcement troops arrived in the area.

As a result of the fighting, nine Taliban were killed and four others maimed.

According to Herat police, a number of vehicles used by the Taliban, and weapons belonging to them, were seized by security forces during the clash.

No details on civilian casualties were reported as yet.

Taliban has not yet commented on the incident.

Shindand, is one of 16 districts in Herat province in western Afghanistan, and is situated in the southern part of the province.

This is the second time the Taliban has attacked the Shindand district.‎ The previous attack took place last year when dozens of bandidos holy warriors carried out a similar attack.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Nangarhar Under Daesh Control Warns Locals
[Tolo News] A Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
tribal chief Shan Pachah Shinwari said on Thursday evening that most of the province has come under Daesh control and government is being accused of ignoring the problem.

In addition, it emerged that serious festivities have been the order of the day for at least a month and that out of 22 districts, only five or six are still under government control. The rest are now controlled by Daesh.

This grim picture emerged during Shahpoor Bakhtyar's Tawde Khabare (Hard Talk) current affairs show that was broadcast Thursday night at 10pm.

The guests on the show were all Nangarhar residents and included Shinwari, Zabiullah Izmari a member of the provincial council, Noor Agha Zwak a civil society activist and Qazi Ismael Azad another civil society activist.

All four guests concurred that Daesh has emerged as the strongest bully boy group in the province. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
contradicting statements emerged with Izmari saying that Daesh mistreats the locals and kidnaps them but Shinwari disputed this, saying Daesh is actually treating the people well.

According Shinwari, Daesh has told the locals that they are not targeting babus government employees or civilians but only Pak Intelligence Services (ISI) agent. He said Daesh also claims that the Afghan National Army troops are not being targeted.

Shinwari said because of this, Daesh is attracting large numbers of supporters from among the local communities. He went on to say thon the lam numbers of Pak Taliban have moved into Afghanistan and have joined forces with Daesh and together they are fighting Afghan Taliban.

Izmari meanwhile said that Bakhtyar, an Afghan Taliban capo, who was imprisoned by the US in Bagram and freed after a few years -- is now a Daesh leader in Nangarhar. He also said that another Afghan Taliban capo Abdul Khaliq lowered the Taliban flag in favor of Daesh's black flag. He is now actively operating as a Daesh member.

Izmari blasted government for not taking the problem seriously. He said out of 22 districts, only five or six are still in the hands of the government. The rest have fallen to Daesh.

According to Zwak, at least 80 percent of Nangarhar is now controlled by Daesh. He said Afghan Taliban are also increasingly coming under pressure to join Daesh. He said they are doing so as Daesh is better equipped.

Azad meanwhile said that various stakeholders in the province have raised the issue of Daesh with national government on numerous occasions but have until how been ignored.

Shinwari said a worrying factor was that Daesh was also now largely made up of local people. He said the issue of security has tanked to such an extent for one reason only -- bad governance.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Africa Horn
Suspected militants kill Puntland security commander
BOSSASO, Somalia -- Suspected Al Shabaab gunmen have shot and killed security commander in the Gulf of Aden port city of Bossaso, marking the second official to be gunned down in May in the latest of string of planned assassinations, Garowe Online reports.

Witnesses told GO that assailants armed with pistols approached the senior commander with Puntland Security Force (PSF) near Sahalka tower, shooting him in the upper part of his body. Security forces were unable to track the attackers who right away fled from the scene of crime.

No body claimed credit for the planned assassinations but Puntland Defence Forces (PDFs) are battling Al Shabaab militants on battlegrounds along Golis Mountain Ranges and in Galgala.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Military court executes alleged militant in Baidoa
BAIDOA, Somalia -- Federal Government of Somalia’s military court has conducted first execution in Bay regional capital of Baidoa of southwestern Somalia on Tuesday, Garowe Online reports.

Siraji Abdullahi Omar (Hanad), executed Al Shabaab member was allegedly caught red-handedly while driving an explosive-laden right hand drive vehicle, Toyota Noah on March 12 when militants raided southwest state presidential palace. The Noah packed full of explosives afterwards went off, killing three police officers according to court officials.

In attendance at the site of the execution were military court chairman, Liban Ali Yarow, First degree military court Chief Judge Hassan Ali Nur Shuute, National Army commanders and Southwest state administration officials.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
ISIS in Egypt vows to attack judges over executions
[RUDAW.NET] The leader of an Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
affiliate in Egypt has vowed to kill judges and security forces in retaliation for the execution of six suspected holy warriors earlier this week.

Abu Osama el-Masri, the leader of the group calling itself the Sinai Province, made his threat in an audio message posted Thursday on social networking sites.

"You have killed our brothers, enraged our hearts ... In the name of God, we will take Dire Revenge after (the execution of) our brothers from the sect that issued the ruling and the sect that executed it," he said.

On Sunday, Egypt executed six suspected Islamic holy warriors convicted by a military court last year over the killing of two military officers during a raid north of Cairo in March 2014.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis


Suicide car bomber kills two near Libya's Misrata
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] A jacket wallah in a car went kaboom! at a checkpoint near Libya's Misrata city on Thursday, killing two guards, state news agency LANA quoted a military source as saying.

The attack was against forces from the port city whose troops are allied with a self-declared government based in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
The Misrata forces are fighting Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
forces of Evil who have profited from Libya's turmoil to gain ground in the city of Sirte. Four years after the fall of Muammar Qadaffy
...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later...
, Libya is in chaos, with two rival governments and their armed forces battling for control.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Tunisian govt: 60 citizens released in Libya, many remain
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Tunisia's Foreign Ministry says 60 of its citizens have been released from detention in Libya, leaving more than 100 still under arrest.

On Saturday, Tunisia's consul in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, Brahim Rezgui, said that 172 Tunisians had been locked away
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
by authorities. Differing reasons have been given for the arrest, including retaliation for the arrest of a Libyan in Tunisia or for immigration reasons.

A Tunisian Foreign Ministry statement Thursday said negotiations were continuing to free those still in jug.

Tunisians have been warned by their government to be careful in Libya and only visit their chaotic neighbor if absolutely necessary.

Many Tunisians work in Libya, which is controlled by rival governments at either end of the country and is home to many armed militias.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Gaddafi's home town falls to Islamic State in anarchic Libya
[CA.NEWS.YAHOO] Standing guard at his frontline post, Libyan soldier Mohammed Abu Shager can see where Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
bully boyz are holed up with their heavy weaponry less than a kilometre away.

The bully boyz have effectively taken over former dictator Muammar Qadaffy
... who had more funny outfits than Louis XIV...
's home city of Sirte as they exploit a civil war between two rival governments to expand in North Africa.

"Every night they open fire on us," said Abu Shebar, who with comrades on Sirte's western outskirts holds the last position of troops belonging to one of the two warring Libyan governments, the General National Congress, which controls the capital Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
and most of the west of the country.

"They are only active at night," he said, pointing to the bad boys' position in a house just down the road blocked by sandbags. He sleeps in a shed next to his firing positions where used tank shells litter the ground.

Libya, which has descended into near anarchy since NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
warplanes helped rebels overthrow Qadaffy in a 2011 civil war, is now the third big stronghold for the Sunni Islamist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, which declared a Caliphate to rule over all Moslems from territory it holds in Syria and Iraq.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  I hope the Sprocket Museum stays safe
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2015 9:20 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemen Tribal Fighters Seize Saudi Border Area: Soldiers Killed, Others Flee
[ALMANAR.LB] Yemeni tribal fighters took control of al-Tuwal region in the southwestern province of Jizan region of southwestern Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, Yemeni media reported reported.

Al-Massirah TV said that the tribal fighters shelled and seized two military posts in al-Tuwal: al-Radif and Burj Abu Kasaf.

Yemeni sources meanwhile reported that about 17 Saudi soldiers were killed as the tribal fighters shelled Woa'o military post.

The shelling destroyed several vehicles in the posts as it forced Saudi soldiers in al-Makhrouq military post to flee, the sources added.

Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by Saudi-US coalition. Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians.

However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
Yemeni tribal fighters in the border province of Saada have been responding to the Saudi aggression, with several border areas in the Saudi Arabia are under the fire of those fighters.

Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to Yemen's runaway president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.

On April 21, Saudi Arabia declared the end of the aggression, dubbed "Decisive Strom," and the start of another campaign called "Restoring Hope." The Saudi-led warplanes are still conducting Arclight airstrikes on several areas across Yemen.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  Saudi Arabia declared the end of the aggression, dubbed "Decisive Storm," and the start of another campaign called "Restoring Hope."

They've an American PR man?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/22/2015 3:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Will Anti-US US OWG Globalist POTUS Obama desire to empower-n-entrench Amerika's future "US-style" OWG Co-Superpower sibling IRAN ironically or indirectly lead to the rise of a SAUDI ARABIA "US-STYLE" CO-SUPERPOWER, ...@ETAL. MUSLIM GREAT = NUKE POWERS, NGOS = E.G. NUCLEAR ISIS, AL-NUSRA, BOKO HARAM, AL-SHABAAB???

DITTO AS PER SPREAD TO EAST EUROPEAN STATES WID LARGE OR MAJORITY MUSLIM POPULATIONS???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/22/2015 21:28 Comments || Top||


Saudi shells hit Yemen aid office, killing 5: local official
[DAWN] Saudi shells hit an international humanitarian aid office in northern Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
on Thursday, killing five Æthiopian refugees and wounding ten, a local official said.

Artillery fire and air strikes hit the town of Maydee along Yemen's border with Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
in Hajja province, a stronghold of the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
militia that a Saudi-led Arab alliance has been bombing for eight weeks.

Saudi forces and Houthi gunnies exchanged heavy artillery and rocket fire, and Arab air strikes hit Houthi positions inside Yemen on Thursday, violence that may complicate plans for United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
-backed peace talks set for May 28 in Geneva.

The Saudi-Yemen frontier has in some cases become a frontline between the two sides, and the Houthis' Al Masira TV channel broadcast footage on Wednesday it said showed its fighters entering a Saudi border post after being fired on by Saudi tanks and helicopters.

"[Saudi] military hardware was deployed, but after a few moments they vanished, fleeing the Yemeni advance attacking them," the channel said.

There was no immediate Saudi confirmation.

Tribal sources along the Saudi-Yemeni border said more than 15 Houthi fighters and at least one Saudi officer were killed in intense festivities on Wednesday.

Residents and local fighters opposing the Houthis said air strikes hit a southern air base controlled by the militia and their positions outside the southern city of Aden on Thursday.

Tribal and militia fighters in Yemen's south support the Arab campaign and back president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who lives in exile with his government in Saudi Arabia.

UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
on Wednesday announced talks between the warring Yemeni parties in Geneva on May 28, and both Hadi's government and the Houthis have indicated they will attend.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Britain
London Cabbie Bombmaker 'Murdered U.S. Soldier in Iraq' in 2007
The mills of Justice grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small.
[AnNahar] A London taxi driver who made bombs targeting coalition troops in the Iraq war was on Thursday convicted in a British court of murdering a U.S. soldier eight years ago.

Anis Sardar, 38, built an improvised bomb (IED) which killed Sergeant First Class Randy Johnson of 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment when it went kaboom! under his armored vehicle outside Baghdad on September 27, 2007.

Sardar was incarcerated
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
in London in September 2014 after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation found his fingerprints on two bombs which were planted in the area at the time, although not the one which killed Johnson.

Sue Hemming, head of special crime and counter terrorism at Britannia's Crown Prosecution Service, called it a "landmark" prosecution which showed that "international borders are no barrier to Death Eaters in the UK being brought to justice."

"Anis Sardar is a highly dangerous man who created bombs so large that not only did they tragically kill Sgt Randy Johnson, but they put other lives in danger and caused significant damage to heavily armored U.S. military vehicles," she added. "He knew precisely what he was doing and was working with murderous intent against coalition forces."

Although his fingerprints were not on the bomb that killed Johnson, they were found on a range of other, similar devices planted in the surrounding area, along with those of Sajjad Adnan, whose prints were on the fatal device.

Adnan was previously in jug in Iraq but his current location is unknown.
Probably one of the many ISIS released from one or another Iraqi prison when they overran that particular area.
Inquiries by British police subsequently revealed that Sardar had spent a decade in Syria, returning to Britannia less than two months after Johnson died.

He claimed he was in Syria simply to learn Arabic, but detectives believe he met up with Adnan and other bombmakers to conspire and make and deploy IEDs in Iraq.

He was later found to have files on his computer containing instructions on how to make bombs.

Sardar is due to be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court in London on Friday.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  he should have been stripped of citizenship and deported. We need to start giving all migrants "provisional citizenship" which can be revoked any time within 20 years if they are found to commit any violent crime.
Posted by: anon1 || 05/22/2015 3:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Interesting tangle. Guy who spent a lot of time in Syria is on trial in England for blowing up an American in Iraq.

Good thing the idiot was to lazy or stupid to wear gloves.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 05/22/2015 14:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Gloves are probably 'un-isl*mic' rj.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/22/2015 21:34 Comments || Top||


Europe
Germany charges 2 alleged members of Islamic State group
[RUDAW.NET] German prosecutors say they have filed terror charges against two men they say are members of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group who traveled to Syria via The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
in May 2014.

Federal prosecutors said Thursday that 27-year-old Ayoub B. and 26-year-old Ebrahim H. B. -- whose surnames were withheld under German privacy rules -- have been charged with being members of a foreign terror organization.

The 27-year-old allegedly underwent weapons training and later took part in fighting near Syria's Iraqi border.

Prosecutors said the 26-year-old volunteered to carry out a suicide kaboom in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, but the plan collapsed after some of the IS members he traveled with were jugged
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
The men returned to Germany in late August and September last year.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


The Grand Turk
Turkey: Leftist militant suspected in Kurdish party attacks
[RUDAW.NET] Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has claimed that a person linked to a leftist Lion of Islam group is behind two attacks this week against The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's pro-Kurdish political party, which injured six people.

Davutoglu said Thursday a suspect previously tossed in the calaboose
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
for links to the banned DHKP-C carried out Monday's kabooms on the People's Democratic Party offices in southern Turkey.

The suspect has not been named and is still on the lam.

A day earlier, Davutoglu had suggested that the Kurdish party and the nationalists were using the attacks in an unlikely "cooperation" to tarnish the ruling party. He argued that the two parties, which are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, had issued similar statements blaming the government.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Indian forces try to stop separatists' march in Kashmir
[DAWN] Hundreds of government forces with automatic weapons patrolled the streets of India-held Kashmire's main city to stop a rally by separatists to mark the anniversaries of the liquidations of two Kashmiri leaders.

The two, Mirwaiz Mohammed Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone, had supported Kashmire's right to vote on whether it should be independent or governed either by India or Pakistain, nuclear-armed nations that have fought two wars since 1947 over its control.

The Himalayan territory is currently split by a heavily militarised line of control between India and Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Air strikes kill 15 militants in North Waziristan
[DAWN] Air strikes carried out by security forces in northwestern Shawal Valley killed at least 15 suspected bandidos forces of Evil on Thursday, intelligence officials said.

A local security commander and two intelligence officials said that 15 or 16 suspected bandidos forces of Evil were killed in the Datta Khel area of North Wazoo.

The latest air strikes came only a week after security forces moved in on Taliban strongholds in the area.

Security forces have been using air force in the Zarb-e-Azb
..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)...
operation to soften targets.

The Taliban used to control all of North Waziristan, a mountainous region that includes the Shawal Valley and runs along the Afghan border. But the military launched an operation there last June and has recaptured most of it.

NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
forces had long urged Pakistain to carry out such an offensive, saying Taliban safe havens in Pakistain were being used to attack NATO and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

Now locals believe that the military is gearing up for an operation in Shawal Valley, where the Taliban still freely operates.

The area is a stronghold of Khan "Sajna" Said, a leader of a Taliban faction whose name was added to a sanctions list of "specially designated global terrorists" by U.S. authorities last year.

There have been a number of air strikes in the Shawal Valley over the past week and two drone attacks, but no sign of a large ground offensive.

Most phone lines to the area have been cut and military roadblocks curtail civilian movement.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


We are fighting terrorism to secure future generations, says Gen Raheel
[DAWN] The Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif said that only a secure Pakistain can be a prosperous Pakistain and our fight against terrorism and extremism is not for today but for our future generations.

While addressing the audiences at Command and Staff College in Quetta on Thursday, the army chief emphasised on the complex and ever-changing nature of threats to the national security.

According to a report on Radio Pakistain, the COAS told his audience that security threats are complex, multidimensional and hybrid in character, rendering traditional response mechanisms irrelevant.

Wars are not fought by the army alone, he said, adding that the whole nation's efforts are necessary in order to be successful.

Gen Raheel said that only a secure Pakistain can be a prosperous Pakistain, and that the country's efforts in the fight against terrorism and extremism will impact future generations.

The COAS said Operation Zarb-e-Azb
..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)...
is a strike against terrorism in urban centres.
If it's all that important why don't we hear updates on a daily basis?
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Islamic State fighters overrun Iraqi govt lines east of Ramadi
[REUTERS] Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
snuffies overran Iraqi government defences east of the city of Ramadi on Thursday, police and pro-government tribal fighters said.

The defensive line was breached at Husaiba, about 10 km (six miles) from the city, on Thursday afternoon after IS fighters intensified mortar and rocket fire.

"The situation is very critical now after Daesh (IS) fighters managed to overrun our defensive line in Husaiba," Police major Khalid al-Fahdawi said.

"We have retreated to the eastern part of the area and we're waiting for more reinforcements and air force strikes to stop the Daesh advance."
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  A comment on Jerry Pournelle's Chaos Manor
I hear what you are saying about ISIS. Sure, a US armored division could take them out. So what?
In WWII the US army and government could both win wars and govern in the aftermath. Today, we can destroy, but our elites are so corrupt that we can no longer govern.
You have complained about our incompetent proconsul, Paul Bremer, in the aftermath of the Iraq war. But we don’t have anyone better at hand!
To paraphrase someone famous, you don’t go into a war with the leadership that you wish you had, but with the leadership that you do have. The days of Eisenhower and FDR and even Nixon are long gone. Our current elites can only create chaos. Sure our army still has the ability to trash ISIS (until outsourcing finally breaks the logistical tail), but so what. We trash ISIS, and then what? We destroy Turkey, and Iran and Saudi Arabia?
Let’s admit it – our country no longer has the ability to both win wars and govern in the aftermath. If a bunch of looney tunes in the deep desert are killing themselves how about we just STAY THE HECK OUT OF THEIR WAY AND LET THEM KILL EACH OTHER. I think Napoleon had something to say on that topic.
As Admiral Palpatine once said, we only have to keep them from escaping.
TG
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/22/2015 4:02 Comments || Top||

#2  yep,

I am inclined to believe the middle east is becoming less and less important to our national interests because we now have more oil reserves than they do. All we have to do is to make sure a nut job doesn't go mass casualty jihad on us and we should stay out of the way.

I am also beginning to think that maybe, GASP AM I AGREEING WITH OBAMA????, that lobbing a few bombs in their general direction is about as far as we should go.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 05/22/2015 9:20 Comments || Top||

#3  TG-
It was Admiral Piatt who said, "...I have my orders from the Emperor himself. He has something special planned for them. We only need to keep them from escaping"
Posted by: lord garth || 05/22/2015 9:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Palpatine was the Emperor.

You'd think a science fiction writer might've gotten that correct.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/22/2015 19:35 Comments || Top||

#5  (a) It's a comment, pater.
(b) Pournelle is one of the great ones. Star wars, eh
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/22/2015 19:47 Comments || Top||


Apache helicopters hammer ISIS on Makhmour front
(RUDAW) Erbil, Kurdistan Region - A strike team of Apache helicopters from the US-led coalition launched a successful assault on ISIS positions early on Thursday which inflicted heavy damage on the extremists, a Peshmerga official has told Rudaw.

Mehdi Younis, Peshmerga spokesman for the Makhmour frontline, said the air attack struck the ISIS-held vilages of Nasir, Xalidiya and Azwya with several bases completely destroyed.

"We always gather information about ISIS positions in the district and inform the coalition in enough time for them to attack," Younis said.
Posted by: Daffy Brown4464 || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I love that helicopter. It even looks like it wants to kill you!
Posted by: gorb || 05/22/2015 10:56 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Police: Jerusalem car attacker related to 2008 yeshiva shooter
[IsraelTimes] Assailant rubbed out after ramming three border cops; police treating incident as terror attack, say driver had Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, ties

A Paleostinian man who plowed his vehicle into a group of border coppers in Jerusalem was related to the gunman responsible for a previous attack in the city in 2008 that killed eight Jewish students, police said.

Amran Abu Dhaim of Jabel Mukaber was shot and killed by police after veering off the road and ramming his Jeep into a group of coppers who were on a routine patrol in the A-Tur neighborhood, beside Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus on Wednesday morning.

Israel Police front man Micky Rosenfeld said the incident was being treated as a lone-wolf terror attack. The investigation is still ongoing, he added.

Two of the injured officers sustained moderate wounds to their legs and hips. A third was lightly maimed. The injured officers were evacuated to hospital for treatment and were discharged later in the day.

According to police, the suspect is related to Alaa Abu Dhaim, the Paleostinian gunman who stormed the Mercaz Harav yeshiva on March 6, 2008, and killed eight students, before being rubbed out. All but one of the victims were aged 18 or under.

The gunman was killed by an IDF soldier who arrived on the scene. His family's Jabel Mukaber home was ordered destroyed several months later, despite a number of appeals, as part of a controversial Israeli policy to deter attacks.

Amran Abu Dhaim also had link to Hamas's military wing, Rosenfeld said, citing family ties to the group as well as a social media trail.

No organization grabbed credit for the attack.

Dhaim was shot by a fourth officer on the scene after he tried to back up his vehicle and run over the injured officers again, police said. He was administered first aid at the scene but died shortly thereafter.

Several local residents pelted police and rescue services with rocks after the incident.

The incident was the latest in a string of lone-wolf attacks by Paleostinians using their cars to ram pedestrians or police, in a trend that began in Jerusalem in October but has also spread to the West Bank.

Last week four people were hurt when a Paleostinian motorist plowed through a bus stop outside Alon Shvut in the Etzion bloc of settlements. A suspect was tossed in the calaboose
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
a short while later and was handed over to the Shin Bet security service for questioning. He was reported to be a Paleostinian resident of Hebron.

On April 25 three coppers were maimed in a car-ramming attack in the A-Tur neighborhood, near the site of Wednesday's incident. Police fired on the vehicle as it sped away. It was later found abandoned, and security forces later apprehended the driver. Early the same day, a Paleostinian teen from A-Tur allegedly attempted to stab a Border Police officer at a nearby checkpoint. A police officer shot the knife-wielding 16-year-old dead.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  He was administered first aid at the scene but died shortly thereafter.


I'd check his neck pulse with my boot
Posted by: Frank G || 05/22/2015 9:35 Comments || Top||

#2  See what we get by not deporting families of terrorists?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/22/2015 9:37 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Leb Army Arrests 3 for Conducting 'Major Financial Operations' for Syria Militants
[AnNahar] Three people have been placed in durance vile
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
in Leb on charges of conducting "major financial operations" for the benefit of Syria-based gangs, the army announced Thursday.

"Lebanese national Mohammed Dahrouj and the Syrians Ahmed Najjar and Ayman Ghotmeh were arrested by the Intelligence Directorate yesterday in Beirut on suspicion of conducting financial operations on behalf of turban groups operating in Syria," the army said in a statement.

"The detainees confessed to transferring huge sums of money from Leb and other countries to Syria in a crooked manner," the army added.

The detainee Dahrouj had been previously arrested on charges of transferring rocket-propelled grenades, said the army.

"Sums of money have been seized as a probe got underway under the supervision of the relevant judicial authorities," the military added.

The Syrian conflict has spilled over heavily into Leb in the form of a refugee crisis, sporadic waves of violence and sectarian tensions.

Since the eruption of the crisis, the undemarcated border between the two countries has been used as a conduit for weapons and fighters, while also serving as a route for people fleeing the violence.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


40 Syria rebels dead in Aleppo air raid: activists
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] At least 40 rebels were killed as an army Arclight airstrike on their base in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo triggered a huge kaboom Thursday, a monitoring group said.

The Salafist tough guys had shells stored at the base, which magnified the blast, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

"The shells went kaboom! when the strike happened, and witnesses there described an kaboom like an earthquake," Abdel Rahman said.

"At least 40 rebels from Islamist factions, including three leaders, were killed when Syria's army dropped a barrel bomb and fired a rocket on their base in Al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo city," the Britannia-based Observatory said.

Al-Shaar falls within opposition-controlled east Aleppo city, which is regularly bombarded by warplanes and helicopters.

Abdel Rahman said the fighters targeted were part of the Northern Front, a coalition of Islamist factions formed in December. (
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  The Salafist tough guys had shells stored at the base, which magnified the blast

Another Islamic holy site gone.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/22/2015 3:35 Comments || Top||


3 arrested in Lebanon for 'financing Syrian armed groups': Army
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] The Lebanese Army announced Thursday that it had incarcerated
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
three people involved in transferring funds from Leb to Syria to fund gangs.

Lebanese national Mohammad Dahrouj, who had previously been arrested for smuggling rockets, was one of the three suspects arrested by the Army Intelligence in Beirut Wednesday night.
Y'know, a half-way competent intel agency would be tracing those rockets to wherever it was they came from. Then the government could send a strongly-worded letter to the embassy of such country, followed by ejecting all its citizens, starting with the ambassador, and impounding all the state's funds it could lay hands on...
The statement said that Syrian nationals Ahmad Najjar and Ayman Azama were also arrested, adding that all three confessed to illegally transferring funds to Syria.

The Army confiscated an unspecified amount of cash they were carrying.
Posted by: Fred || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Terror Networks
Islamic State seizes Syria's last border crossing with Iraq
[Ynet] The Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
bad boy group has seized the last border crossing between Syria and Iraq controlled by the Syrian government after security forces withdrew, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Thursday.

Iraqi officials said Iraqi security forces had also withdrawn from their side of the crossing known as as al-Waleed in Iraq and al-Tanf in Syria. The crossing is in Syria's Homs province, where Islamic State on Wednesday seized the historic city of Palmyra from government forces.

It was not immediately clear when Islamic State took the site.
An Nahar points out:
The jihadists, who now control roughly half of Syria, reinforced their self-declared transfrontier "caliphate" with the capture of the Al-Tanaf to Al-Walid crossing on the Damascus-Baghdad highway late on Thursday.

It was the last border crossing with Iraq still held by the Damascus government. Except for a short section of frontier in the north under Kurdish control, all the rest are now held by IS.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/22/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  See also TOPIX > ISIS CONSOLIDATES MIDDLE EAST "CALIPHATE" WID FALL OF RAMADI.

* REUTERS > ISLAMIC STATE FIGHTERS OVERRUN IRAQI GOVT. LINES EAST OF RAMADI [Husaiba].

* RELATED YAHOO NEWS > ISLAMIC STATE TAKES LAST SYRIA REGIME-HELD CROSSING AT IRAQI BORDER | MONITOR [SOHR].

and

* CNN AM > WOLF BLITZER "SITUATION ROOM GUEST PANEL = Guest Pert demoted that unless a potent or significant external force intervenes agz the ISIS/ISIL, IT IS UNLIKELY THE IRAQI GOVT-ARMY WILL BE ABLE TO DEFEAT OR STOP THE ISLAMIC STATE.

VERSUS

"Ask + Ye shall Receive", save from IRAN N-O-T vee the Bammer = USA ...

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US OFFICIALS: IRAN SENDING TROOPS TO IRAQI FIGHT FOR [Baiji/Beiji] OIL REFINERY - BUSINESS INSIDER.

IRAN sending at present only MINOR Arty + Support Milfors to Baiji/Beiji, BUT MORE-N-BIGGER MAY BE FORTHCOMING???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/22/2015 21:22 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
29[untagged]
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2015-05-22
  Air strikes kill 15 militants in North Waziristan
Thu 2015-05-21
  Kurds advance against Islamic State in northeastern Syria
Wed 2015-05-20
  IS Attacks Syria Druze Village, Battles for Palmyra
Tue 2015-05-19
  US drone strike in North Waziristan leaves six 'militants' dead
Mon 2015-05-18
  ISIS confirms Ramadi capture
Sun 2015-05-17
  US special forces kill senior IS leader in Syria: Pentagon
Sat 2015-05-16
  Jury sentences Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for marathon attack
Fri 2015-05-15
  Belmokhtar's Jihadist Group in N. Africa Pledges Allegiance to IS
Thu 2015-05-14
  ISIS acting leader al-Afri killed by US-led airstrike
Wed 2015-05-13
  Iraq Blast Kills Four including Peshmerga General
Tue 2015-05-12
  Drone Strike Kills 4 Qaida Suspects in Yemen's Mukalla
Mon 2015-05-11
  Terror recruiter with roots in Minn. linked to Texas shooting
Sun 2015-05-10
  Houthis agree to five-day cease-fire in Yemen
Sat 2015-05-09
  Pakistani Chopper Crashes into School, 2 Ambassadors Killed
Fri 2015-05-08
  ISIS controls 80% of Baiji refinery in Salahuddin

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